Sunday, June 13, 2010

Have you ever met someone that you were drawn to, on the spot? It happens rarely in my life, but it has happened, and with no real warning.There's a sweet, old gentleman in our church who has been coming with his wife for about a year.I would guess that he's in his 80's. He wears yellow glasses over his eye glasses and carries a white cane. He can see, but I assume he is legally blind. He's very soft spoken and what little he says is genuine. I know very little about him, other than he's sickly, that he used to play guitar and sing bluegrass music, and that they moved here from Texas. All that being said, I will add that something about him makes me love him, inexplicably, almost the way I loved my grandfather.They aren't always able to attend services because he is in ill health. I miss them when they aren't with us. I have developed a card ministry at church, and whenever Calvin is in the hospital or ill at home, I send him a greeting just to let him know that he's being thought about and missed. The last time he was hospitalized, we nearly lost him, but there he was, two weeks ago, coming up the aisle with his wife on his arm. I went to greet them, and he showered me with thanks for my prayers and thoughts and asked me if he could give me a hug. Yesterday I received a hand-written thank you note from Calvin for the birthday card I'd sent him, belated due to the church calendar having his special day on the wrong date. His note is special to me. It's short and to the point, but oozing with sincerity, and I am sure that it is difficult for him to pen something when he doesn't see well.I know that Calvin may not be walking this earth for too much longer, so I've determined to enjoy him and to cheer him with my greetings too, for as long as he is with us. I guess that's the attitude we should have with everyone, every day...for none of us knows what sand is left in the hourglass. What a pleasant world it would be if we all recognized that and acted accordingly.